Wednesday, June 20, 2012

CBS and Washington Post Scrub Website of NC Dental Society Article

Thought you read something about the fight going on in North Carolina and Private Equity backed dental corporations - like those owned by Michael and Susan Dell - on the Washington Post website? What about the CBS News website?

Well they are now gone. Scrubbed clean, it appears. At least I can’t find them. The WP article was there on Monday (June 18), and had been since June 6. Today is Wednesday June 20 and it has vanished!

The North Carolina Dental Society is backing a bill to regulate dental service organizations (DSOs) more closely because it says some of these groups are crossing the line and essentially controlling dental practices. State law allows only dentists to own and operate practices and make medical decisions for patients.

Dentists affiliated with these dental service organizations and their patients visited the Legislative Building to oppose a Senate bill containing new rules. They say other dentists are trying to block them from offering services at a fraction of what those in traditional practices now charge. The organizations help control costs by handling things like payroll, human resources and purchasing, backers say.

Proponents of the bill argue DSOs are often out-of-state, investor-owned corporations which come in and exert control in dental practices and get in between the doctor-patient relationship. They argue that some organizations are imposing production quotas and encouraging dentists to persuade patients that they need certain treatments.

Opponents of the bill argue DSOs offer affordable dental care and alleviate the administrative burden of dentists which allows them to spend more time on patients. They argue limiting these organizations will limit access to affordable healthcare and are just an effort by traditional dental practitioners to limit the spread of DSOs in North Carolina.